The Day The Music Died
by Suze18
Summary: They had gone too far this time. And Rick wasn't going to take it anymore. This story is about a school that suffers a great loss, a loss that could have been prevented.Complete
1. Music Fades

Rick slammed the front door, making the house shake a little after having a horrible morning at school. Something that should have been one of his greatest achievements, turned out to be his worse. "Mom...dad," he called out. No one answered.

He had fire in his eyes; he decided that he was no longer going to take the abuse from his fellow peers. They had to learn that he was not their little toy to toil with, that actions had consequences.

Rick walked over to his dad's cabinet in his office, opening it slowly he brought out a wooden box. He picked the lock to the wooden. There before him was a handgun, he slowly picked it up; his eyes began to grow he caressed every inch of it. "You all will pay for what you have done to me," he said with a great deal anger.

He glanced around the room, making sure his parents were anywhere around. He put the gun in his backpack, grabbed the box of bullets, and quietly put the rest of the stuff back in the cabinet, so that his parents wouldn't notice that anything had been touched.

That afternoon Emma staggered through the halls heading to the bathroom during 5th block, thinking about earlier. How could she have given him the benefit of the doubt? She should have listened to Paige, and the rest. She could still feel his grip on her arm, the way it was so tight, and how it got tighter when she tried to remove it. The thought made a chill go down her back. She felt so violated. She had an eerie feel in the pit of her stomach like there was something bad was going to happen. She heard someone yelling, but she couldn't quite figure out what they were saying, when she came around the corner she ran into Rick smack on.

"Oh just one of the people I wanted to see," grabbing a hold of her arm.

"Let me go," she screamed, trying to wriggle her arm out of his grip.

Letting her arm go, "I can't believe you, being nice to me because you felt sorry for me. Do you know how that makes me FEEL?"

He waited for a response, but she was too afraid to speak. She didn't know what he was capable of. He pulled out the gun from his bag, pointed it in her face.

"What are you doing?" she began to quiver, slowly backing away from him.

He notices her moving, "Don't move anywhere," he yelled.

"Rick calm down, you don't know what you're doing," she stuttered.

"That's where you're wrong; I know exactly what I'm doing." You could see it in his eyes that he had lost it.

"What will this accomplish?"

"Everyone will know that they shouldn't torment others without there being a price to pay," drawing closer to her again.

Craig was strolling down the east hall; he was coming in a little late since he didn't want to stay home with Joey. It had been torture living with him since he had found out he had to sell his house. Sick or not, he couldn't stand another day with him. The closer he got to his locker, the louder the voices got, it sounded like yelling. He stopped for a second to listen in; he didn't want to get in the middle of it.

"What are you going to shoot everyone who did you wrong?" Emma snapped a bold move on her behalf.

"Exactly, I have put up with this abuse for way.... to long."

Craig couldn't believe his ears, what was he to do? That was one of his friends in there, and he would be dammed if he were going to let her get hurt. This was Mr. Simpson's stepdaughter, a girl who reunited him with his sister; she was always there even if they hadn't talked in a while. He walked up besides her, he was about to say something.

Pointing the gun at Craig, "Get lost, this doesn't concern you," Rick sneered.

Putting up his hands, "Whoa man, you don't want to hurt anyone," motioning his head for Emma to make her get away.

"Why not, they've hurt me enough. They even went so far into hurting Toby for being my friend. Do you think that's right?"

"No, but..."

Noticing that Emma was getting away, "I told you not to move," he screamed, pointed his gun back at her, "Now you must be punished," as he went to pull the trigger Craig got into Rick's way getting shot in the shoulder himself.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh," Craig howled. Blood dripped down his shirt as the bullet went through the surface of his skin. The impact caused him fall to the floor.

Emma looked back when she heard the sound of the gunshot and the sound of Craig shrieking, she turned around to see Craig fall to the ground. Rick came towards her. As she began to run again, he shot the gun again. This time he got the right target right in the leg, she tried dragging her leg so that she could get away, but the pain grew greater and unbearable, she had to stop.

Rick had gotten closer to her but just ran passed her, she knew others were in a whole lot of trouble. She wondered how Craig was doing, was he okay?

"Help!" she screamed hoping that someone would hear her, and come running.

Kids that had heard the sounds of the shot started fleeing the school with screams. Well others hid under their desks. No one ever thought that this could happen at their school. Kids prayed that they wouldn't be the shooters next prey. Some students didn't even know what happen, just that they had to stay in class.

Emma had no one come her way, it was up to her to help Craig even if that meant crawling on her hands and knees dragging her leg. There was no way she was going to let Craig die; he had saved her. Blood was smeared along the floor leading in the direction Emma headed.

Jimmy was running to find his Hazel, making sure that she got out all right. He didn't even have to ask who the killer was, after what happened today, he was sure that it was Rick. He felt a pinch in his back, at first it felt like a bee sting, but then the pain started to increase. He couldn't move any farther, his legs began to weaken, eventually giving out.

Coming up to Jimmy, so that he could see his face, "You thought you could pretend to like me so that I could trust you. And then you and your punk friends pull the ultimate trick on me in front of the whole town. Well you didn't fool me one bit," he said with so much hatred.

"It wasn't like that; I wasn't part of that trick. I told you I was getting tired of it," he tried to explain faintly.

"You're a LIAR!" he screamed out. "And you're now paying for your crimes," as he saw the blood gush out he gave out a little laugh. He left Jimmy there to fend of himself, to feel the pain that Rick had to endure these last few weeks. He was having a hard time trying to keep himself awake.

"Craig," Emma softly yelled. Everything was going a little blurry from the pain; she couldn't remember exactly where she had left Craig. It may take her a while but she would eventually get there, she might be his only hope.

Spinner quickly came around the corner of the upper hallway, to see a body lying there face down. There was blood dripping on the ground from his back. He slid right beside the body, only to find out that it was his best friend. His eyes grew with terror; he shook his head in disbelief.

"Ji...Ji...Jimmy, what happened?"

"Rick shot me... thinking I... had a part.... in today," having a hard time breathing.

"This is my entire fault," he cried, "I only wanted to get rid of him. I'm so...sorry!"

"Find...the...girls!" he said with his last breath.

"I will," not realizing that Jimmy had just died. He ran down the halls, hollering their names.

Sean saw a trail of blood on the ground and started to follow it. He hoped that it wasn't his Ellie. The trail led him to Emma leaning over Craig's body, mumbling something he couldn't really hear.

"Craig, I can't believe that you risked your life for me."

Putting his hand on her cheek with the last bit of strength he had, "I would do anything for an _Angel_ like you."

Her tears soaked into his shirt.

"Are you guys all right," Sean asked not seeing how bad Craig was bleeding.

Emma turned around, "No, Craig needs help..."

Sean moved a little to see the great amount of blood around Craig. His eyes grew with terror.

"I'll be fine, but I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to keep him awake. He losing so much blood," she said gripping his hand.

"I'll go see if we could get the paramedics in here," heading toward the nearest exit in a rush. His mind was filled was so many questions. However, right now wasn't time fro answers his friend needed help.

"Who do we have here?" Rick joyfully said as he walked by one of the open classrooms, noticing someone in one.

"What do you want?" Manny scowled, before turning around to see the gun in his hands.

"I know you're sweet on Gavin, that you guys are going put as of today, wouldn't he just love to see you suffer."

"What are you going to do?" she cried.

"I'm thinking of killing you right in front of him, so he can watch the pain in your eyes as he watches you die. Then he will have to live with the fact that he hurt so many people, and many even lost their lives"

Manny went to run to the other door in the class, but he grabbed her wrist gripping it so hard it started to leave bruise. She whimpered as it began to hurt. Was this really going to be her last hour, she thought.

"Now let's go find him," but she wouldn't move, so he kicked her a little in the leg.

Spinner ran down the halls, and yet he hadn't come across any of the girls yet. What if Rick already had them? Rick came around the corner, but he wasn't alone. Spin didn't want to make any sudden moves that might affect both their lives.

Pointing the gun at Spin, and then back at Manny, "Oh look Spin; it's not nice to be bullied is it? Well there's a price to play for everything." Pointing the gun at Manny's head, "Say good-bye to you little girlfriend."

"STOP, Don't do this. She has nothing to do with what I did to you. Please let her go," he pleaded.

"Just like Toby had nothing to do with what happened to Terri, yet you still hurt him anyway. Sorry but it just doesn't work the way you want it to."

Spinner darted towards Rick to try to grab the gun, but before he could, Rick pushed the trigger, firing the gun, blood splattered on both of them, and on the window. Manny didn't even make a noise. Her head immediately dropped, Rick then pushed her lifeless body at Spinner, and he caught her in his arms, while Rick went running towards the stairs.

Gavin looked at her beautiful face that only earlier today had a great big smile upon it. There was a heartbreaking look on Spinner's face; this had to end now before anyone else got hurt. What had he done, his friends were hurt all because of him. I deserve to be the one dead not Manny she was so full of life, she had nothing to do with any of this. It just wasn't fair.

Spinner grew very edgy, he gently put Manny down before chasing after Rick; he wasn't going to get away with this. He easily caught up with Rick, and jumped on his back, causing them to fall down his stairs. The gun went flying across the floor. Spin got on Rick and began to punch at his face, when two police came through the doors slowly creeping around, making sure that no one was shooting when they saw the two boys.

They tore the two teens apart, "Which one is shooter?"

"This guy," Spin said with a fury, glaring at him.

They pushed Rick into a locker, and cuffed him. Into the radio one of the police officers spoke, "We have him, send in the paramedics."

They brought in ten paramedics because they didn't know how many victims they had. Sean came running down the halls yelling, "I need help."

"How many down?" one of the paramedics asked him.

"There's two that I know of on the upper floor. One's hurt pretty badly."

"Show us where?"

Sean led two of them through the halls to the quickest way to reach them. When they got there Craig was unconscious, and Emma was lying right beside him, still gripping his hand.

"Miss, you need to give us space work on him."

Before moving, "Craig keep fighting, remember you're my hero," then she kissed him his cold lips.

The paramedic's brought out Craig out of Degrassi on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on his face he looked so pale, he had no color left to his lips. There was a crowd of parents and news crews standing, waiting to see who was hurt. Caitlin was with her news crew, when Craig passed by her, her stomach dropped.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "How am I going to tell Joey?" tears formed in her eyes. She didn't think she could do this story anymore it had become too personal. She had to sit down; she couldn't feel her feet any longer.

Snake came down the halls to see them bringing Emma through them, he ran right to her side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I only got shot in the leg, not like...Craig," tears began to form.

"Oh honey, I'm going to phone your mom."

"Can you phone Joey? ...And tell him that Craig saved my life."

"Will do," squeezing her hand before they took her off to ambulance.

"God, what am I going to do," he said to himself leaning against the wall, looking up at the ceiling.

The only other victims that came out of Degrassi were in body bags. Parents only prayed that it wasn't their kids. Once they had the victims out of the school, they let all the other students depart the school. Some students didn't even know what it was all about until they got outside, they thought it was some bomb threat, no one would have expected what happen today could happen at their school. Can anyone ever be fully prepared for something like this?

All night over the news, was details on the shootings. Hazel sat on her bed trying not to think about it. She had lost Jimmy forever, and nothing she did was going to bring him back. Tears were in her eyes. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. First, he had hurt Terri, and now he had taken her boyfriend and her best friend from her.

She looked at her bedside to see a photo of all four of them at Bollywood last year. They were so happy then. She couldn't look at it any longer; she picked it up, and threw it against the door with so much force that it caused the glass to break.

"I will never forgive you for this Rick," she whispered with so much resentment.

Craig was in the ICU, hooked up to all kinds of machines. Joey and Caitlin stood in each other's arms outside of the room, looking through the glass at the poor helpless boy, a boy who had decided to play hero. Angie didn't even know yet, how do you tell a little girl that her brother may not make it, she had already lost her mother. They didn't want her here anyways because they didn't want her to see Craig like this.

Jimmy's parents came out of the hospital in each other's arms as tears ran down their faces; they had just said good-bye to their son forever.

Emma laid in her hospital bed, staring at the wall, replaying the events of the day in her head. She kept on hearing Craig howl as he was hit with the bullet, a bullet that was meant for her. She put her pillow over her ears shut in hopes that it would make her not hear it, but she couldn't. These drugs were making her drowse, but she couldn't sleep until she knew how Craig was, "Why Craig, why did you have to be a hero?" That's when her mother came in.

"Mom, how's he doing?" she asked with great concern.

Her mom looked away, debating whether or not she should tell her.

"Come on mom, I need to know," she pleaded.

Walking closer to her daughter, "Right now it doesn't look good, honey. He just lost so much blood," she cried.

"Was there anyone else?"

Spike came and sat right in the chair next to her, "Honey, Jimmy, Paige and Manny were among the five that died."

"No...no..." she cried shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm so sorry," cradling her daughter in her arms as her daughter let it all out.

"Who else?"

"Alex and Jay."

J.T and Toby laid flowers of Degrassi, for the friends they lost, and the ones that were lying in the hospital. There were others there lighting candles for them too. People just stood there looking at it all, crying.

Toby stood there wondering how he could have been friends with someone who could be capable of doing this. He kind of blamed himself for it, he had seen signs of him being a little unstable, and he just ignored them.

Spinner stood on the bridge near the edge, looking down at the water; thinking of what he had caused today, a great pain that ravished through out the school; a pain that everyone would remember every time they walked down those halls, or passed the school. Today Gavin Mason was on more, no Gavin died right with his best friend, the love of his life, and with his new girlfriend. He was the cause of their deaths. If it weren't for him, they would still be here. Then there was his other friend who was fighting for his life. So maybe he should jump he had no reason to live anymore. Everyday would just be an everyday memory of the pain he caused.

Tears just poured out of his eyes, he was so alone right now. He couldn't get comfort from anyone else because they probably hated him. Most people knew that, he, Jay and Alex had poured the stuff on Rick. They probably would be glad to be rid of him.

The pain he was feeling was so great, the tears kept running down his face.

_I'm going to leave it here, making you wonder if he goes through with it!_


	2. Music is Dead

Days had gone by, and still Craig laid there in the hospital bed unconscious. There was no change to his condition, but doctors were amazed that he had managed to hold on this long, after the amount of blood he lost, and the fact that his body was very weak.

They allowed Emma to come in a wheelchair to come and see him through the glass. She wouldn't let it go until they agreed. As she looked at him, a tear rolled down her cheek. She still felt that a little of this was her fault. It should be her in there not him.

A familiar hand touched her shoulder almost scaring her half to death, "Emma, you know he has always had a special place for you in his heart," Joey said.

"What, what are you talking about?"

Joey came and knelt down beside her. "I remember after my wedding to his mother, he told me that he had met an _Angel_ today. I asked him what he meant, and he said that you seemed so perfect, so beautiful."

"That's what he called me after I asked him why he did it. Yeah, but why do you say he hold a special place in my heart, just because he called me that?"

"Because I've seen the way he looks at you when you're over at our house, it's not the same way he looks at any other girl."

Craig began to stir in the hospital bed. "Emma, no...' he cried out, as his eye lids flickered.

The nurse in the room, that had been checking his vital, thought this was a good sign until his blood pressure began to rise, making other machines to start beeping. A doctor came rushing through the door to see what was causing it.

Emma and Joey were alarmed when they heard it, at first they thought that his heart had stopped. They stood outside the window watching the staff do their work, praying that they wouldn't lose him, that he would fight like they knew he could.

Degrassi student walked into school for the first time since the shooting. It felt weird to be back. They all felt a little uneasy being there, as if it wasn't over.

Hazel looked at the school, and then looked away. She stood there trying to fight back the tears, contemplating whether to go in or head back home. She had nothing really left there. Most of her friend were gone, at least the ones she was really close to.

After 10 mins of standing there, she finally decided that she would get it over with. Her feet felt so heavy, she tried to lift them to make her way up the concrete stairs but struggled a little. As she walked in, she felt a little bit of a creepy feeling, I mean what else would you feel when you know people had been killed here.

Toby didn't want to even show his face at school. Everyone knew they had been friends, and the last thing he wanted was to have other students hounding him about it. He felt bad already enough. He walked with his head hunched over, not looking at anyone.

J.T saw Toby from a far and ran to catch up with him. "How you doing?"

Turning around to look at him, "Horrible, I can't help but feel a little responsible about it. Like everyone hates me because I had befriended him."

Putting his hand on his shoulder, "Come on Toby, they don't think that. And even if they did, I don't. I'll always be your friend."

"How's Emma?" trying to change the subject.

"Well when I went to see her yesterday, she didn't really say much, she wouldn't even look at me. She kept repeating though that Craig getting shot was all her fault."

"Why would she say a thing like that?"

"Didn't you hear?"

"Hear what?" looking at him, shaking his head.

"Craig took a bullet for her."

His eyes widened, "What?"

"Yeah I heard Rick was mad at her for leading her on."

"I can't believe Craig did something like that. I mean after last year, I've always thought of him as a jerk, always thinking of himself only, not caring if anyone else got hurt."

"I guess he's not as bad after all."

Sean and Ellie walked hand in hand down the hall. Sean stopped all of a sudden when they came through the upper hall. He could still see the blood trail as if it was still fresh in his mind, seeing his friend, and his ex's blood on the ground, watching them as they were taken away on the stretcher; it was still fresh in his mind as if it was still that day.

Ellie notice the anguish in his eyes, and knew he could still see the images. She felt a little helpless. How do you help a person who has seen this? "Sean, are you alright?" she said standing right in front of him.

At first, he didn't even hear her, "Yeah!"

"Are you sure, because I want to help," looking at him with worried eyes.

He wasn't going to let her break him, no one was supposed to have that power, and he was tough. However, he couldn't take it any longer all of a sudden, he just broke down in her arms and cried, "Ellie it was so horrible. You should have seen the desperation in Emma's eyes to keep Craig alive. But there was just so...much blood...there."

"Yeah, but hasn't he survived," putting her hand on his cheek, and smiled trying to get him to look her in the eyes.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean he will live. I talked to Joey, and he said there's been no change."

As he looked up at her, "Sean, have a little faith that it will turn out alright."

Ashley sat in the music room where she and Craig had spent numerous days strumming on the guitar, singing. They may never have those days ever again if things don't get better for him.

She thought of what she had lost through this, a good friend, an ex boyfriend, and maybe even another one. When she had heard the news from her mom about it, the first thing she wanted to do was to hurt Rick herself for taking people she loved away.

Why had he done it she kept asking herself? She had a feeling why he shot Paige, Alex and Jay, probably because they had always harassed him, but why the rest? Tears rolled down her face as she tried to come up with an answer, but it was hopeless. The only one who could answer that was Rick.

"So how is Craig?" Joey said, looking so desperate for answers. He had already lost his wife; he wasn't going to lose his son. He knew it wasn't his real son, but in his heart, he was.

"The nurse said that he was crying out 'no, Emma'. After that is when his blood pressure went up. I've never seen anything like this; I think his mind is really worried about this girl. Do you know anyone by that name?"

"Yes, that's the girl he saved."

"Well he must be holding on for her. However, if he continues to see this image of her getting shot in his head, I'm not sure how long we will be able to keep him stable before we lose him."

"No, you can't," he plead, thinking that he couldn't let his son go.

"I really sorry, but until he wakes up I really don't know much we can do for him," he said noticing the anguish in Joey's eyes.

"I know you don't like none members in the ICU, but maybe if you let Emma come and see him, maybe she could help him."

"I'm going to allow it, but only because I think this might be our only hope of not losing him."

At the beginning of the first class, announcements came on.

"We all will never forget the great loss to our school. And I'm sure that they'll all be missed greatly," Liberty said. "But we must also pray for Craig Manning who is still in the hospital fighting for his life. In addition, Emma Nelson is said to fully recover. Now, Principal Raditch has something to say about that horrible day."

Goes to Principal Radditch, "We know it's been a hard time for us all, but now we must think of how we can prevent this from happening again. We need to stop the bullying that goes around our school, stand up for others. We should not hate one another, but love each other, and help each other if in need. If anyone just wants to talk about what has happened, the councilors are here anytime during school hours. We will be having a memorial next week for all the victims, if you would, like to help talk to Liberty about it."

Marco sat in the cafeteria alone, just staring at his uneaten food on his tray. He didn't even know why he had either bothered buying it he couldn't eat. Last night he and Dylan had gotten into a fight. He was only trying to help him through his sister's death, but Dylan wouldn't let him in. He just tried pushing him away.

He tried phoning Ellie to talk about it, but she said she couldn't really talk. She was having enough problems trying to help Sean. He felt so alone, that he had no one. Then he thought of Spinner, so he got up and went to look for him.

J.T was walking the halls remembering the many times he had admired how Manny looked so beautiful that day, or how she just had a smile that would light up the room. He still loved her though, even though she never loved him back. He wished that they had left the relationship on better terms

Now he would never get back what they lost. They had such a great friendship, that was now lost because of a psycho. He never figured out why he went after Manny in the first place, she never did him any wrong. J.T thought of her as the nicest girl around.

Kendra was heading out of the school; she couldn't stay there any longer. She hadn't slept much these last few nights. She just felt like her head was going to blow.

Marco couldn't find him anywhere, but he saw his sister Kendra. He ran up to her, "Kendra," he called.

Kendra turned around, "Yeah," looking so down. "What do you want?" she said with sadness in her voice.

"Have you seen your brother?" Tears began to form in her eyes; Marco noticed this, "What's the matter?"

"Gavin hasn't been home since the shooting. We don't know where he is," she cried.

Pulling her into his arms, "Oh Kendra I'm so sorry."

"I think he thinks it's all his fault, since he and those other people he was hanging out with were always bugging Rick."


	3. NO! I Didn't Mean Too!

Marco and Kendra stood outside of the school in each other's arms. She had just told him about Gavin missing, and they were both upset about it.

"Oh we've got to go find him," Marco said.

"But where?" looking at him with so much desperation. "Gavin's got a car, he could be anywhere by now."

Grabbing her hands, "We have to at least try. I would hate for him to have done something stupid."

"Okay," she finally agreed. All she wanted was her brother home safe. Yeah they might not get along a lot, but it didn't mean she didn't love him.

"I'm going to round up some people to help us," Marco said as he walked back towards the school.

"Alright, meet me back here in 20mins," she hollered.

"Got yah."

Emma was asleep in her hospital room, dreaming:

_Emma was back at Degrassi, walking down the same halls that Rick had had pulled out a gun at her. She looked around, but she didn't hear no one or even see anyone as she walked past the open classrooms. She began to wonder where they had all went._

"_Hello," she hollered out. "Is anyone there?"_

_As Emma walked around the corner, Craig was hunched over as he slowly walked her way. He was having a hard time moving as he, you could see the pain in his face. That's when she noticed the blood upon his hands, as he held onto his stomach. The blood was dripping down upon the ground leaving a trail. Her eyes widen as she stared at it. She wanted to go to him, but her feet wouldn't move it was as if they were glued to the ground._

"_Emma...you need to get out of here, Rick said he was coming after you next," Craig cried, having to lean a little against a wall so he wouldn't fall to the ground._

_Right then Rick came running down the hall, just shooting, not really caring what he shot. Two bullets hit Craig in the back, causing him to fall to his knees and then slowly falling to the ground._

_Emma had terror in her eyes, as she watched Craig get shot, and fall to the ground._

"_NO..............." She cried out._

_Emma saw the look of agony in his face as those two bullets went through him. How wasn't she shot, she thought to herself, she saw the bullets keep passing by her._

"_I love you my Angel," Craig blurted out before taking his last breath, dropping his head._

_Rick all of a sudden vanished right before her eyes. She looked all around her, but he wasn't there. How can he just vanish? Emma ran to Craig's side to feel that he had gone cold. Tears ran down her face as she realized he was dead. She just laid her head on his back, as she wept over him._

"_I will always love you," she whispered._

_Then Manny came down the hall, with a disgust look on her face. "Emma you didn't this to him. If you would just have stayed away from him, or anyone this wouldn't have happened. You wreck everything you tough. You're like a poison to them!!!" she sneered. _

"_I didn't mean for this to happen," Emma cried out, putting her hands into her hands._

"_Well it did, and now look at him, he's dead, DEAD!!!!!!! Who will you kill next...Sean?"_

Emma uttered, "No, I didn't mean to. Please believe me." She woke up in a cold sweat, crying out. She didn't deserve to be okay when Craig laid there fighting for his life. Manny had been right, she did wreck everything she touched. Look at Sean now; he was in trouble all the time, hanging out with that bad crowd again.

Spike came in to see her, "Hey honey how are you feeling?"

"Leave me alone! I want you to leave!" she didn't want her mom to get hurt too.

Surprised by the reaction she got, "I won't Emma. I love you!"

"Well I want to be alone," she yelled back turning her back to her.

Coming to sit beside her daughter, facing her, "Joey wanted me to ask you, if you would like to Craig. The doctors have agreed to let you see him."

Those words were like music to her ears, and she wanted to say yes, but then she remembered her dream. "I won't do it. He's better off not seeing me. Trust me I'll make things worse for him."

Spike didn't understand where these words were coming from. She thought they had already gotten through to her. What was with the sudden change?

Rubbing her arm, "Honey, Joey said the doctor thinks you are his only hope."

"Trust me mom, I'm far from it. I would be like poison to him" Turning her back to her mom again, "Now will you please leave!!!!"

Spike decided to let her daughter be for the mean time, leaving her room. Maybe she just needed time to think. She prayed that she would come around.

Marco saw Ashley coming out of the music room, and ran right over to her. "Oh Ash I'm glad I found you," he said a little out of breath.

"Why?" looking at him a little weird.

"I was talking to Kendra, and they haven't seen Spinner since the shootings at the school."

Ash's eyes narrowed, "What?" Putting her hands through her hair, "No, this can't be happening on top of everything?"

"Well it is. I told Kendra that I would round up a couple of people to go search for him, so would you help?"

"Of course I would."

"Can you help me find a couple of others?"

"Yeah. Where will we meet?"

"In the front in about 15mins."

"Alright, I'll see you guys there."

Ashley felt like her whole world was crashing down before her. She seemed to be losing everyone who were her friend, or use to be, left, right, and center. It seemed like the whole world was against her. She wanted to scream, but at this point, she didn't have the time, she needed to find others to help them search.

Spike came up behind Joey, and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, I couldn't get Emma to come. For some reason she's back in a horrible state. She said she would be like poison to him."

"What? Why?" turning to face Spike.

"I don't know. She doesn't even want me around. Something's got her freaked out."

"I hope he can pull through it without her. Angela needs him just as much as I do."

"I know. Just like Jack needs his sister. If there is anything that Snake and I could do, don't' hesitate to ask us."

"I won't," looking back into Craig's room.

Kendra sat there waiting on the grass for Marco to show up. She was pacing, it felt like forever before he came back. Marco walked along the path with JT, Toby, Ashley, and Hazel.

Ashley comes up to Kendra, giving her a hug, "How are you holding up?"

"Okay, I just wish I knew if he was alright."

"Okay, this is how we're going to do it. We'll go out in pairs to look for him: Hazel and Kendra; Ashley and Toby; and JT and me. If we find him, we need to phone each other," Marco said.

"Okay," Ashley said.

Emma laid on her side looking out the window it was a beautiful day. The weather defiantly didn't fit her mood. She just felt like crawling in a whole and dying, to her life at this point wasn't worth living.

"Emma," Angela yelled as she ran up to her bed, and jumped right beside her.

Emma put on a fake smile, and a sugary voice, "What are you doing here?" She really wished she would just leave, but how do you tell a little girl that.

"Daddy brought me up. I wanted to come and see you."

"Oh...that was sweet...of you," she made her self blurt out. She wanted to be alone, why didn't anyone listen to her.

"Here," handing her a piece of paper, "I made this for you."

Emma looked at it, and couldn't believe that Ang had done this for her. "What's this picture of?"

"It's of Craig rescuing you," pointing it out who is who.

Emma couldn't believe that Angela had done this for her after the pain she's caused her. A tear fell down her cheek, "It's very nice. Thank you."

"You're welcome," she said giving Emma a hug. "You know Craig loves you."

Emma looked surprised, "What are you talking about?"

"He has a picture of you by his nightstand," Emma's eyes widened. "One night I was standing outside his door listening to him talk to himself. He said I love you my Angel."

Emma's heart began to warm up, and she smiled when she heard that. How long ago did she see this she wondered? "Are you sure it was my photo?"

"Yeah, he's had the same photo of you by his bed since he moved in."

"Then why doesn't he tell me?"

"He thinks he's not good enough for you."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard him say it before, but I don't agree. I think you should go out with him that would make him better."

Emma laughed a little, "Ang, it doesn't work like that."

"Well, dad said that I should get you to go see him."

"He did, did he?"

"Yeah!" she smiled. "Dad says that you've been down lately, are you worried about Craig?"

Looking down at her, "Yeah, he's the best. He once helped me find my dad, just like I helped him find you."

"Really?"

"Really! I want nothing more for him to wake up; I would do anything to make that happen."

"Does that mean you will go see him?" she asked with so much hope in her voice.

Manny's voice came into Emma's head, "He's dead because of you."

Emma needed to say no for Craig's sake, but when she looked into Angela's eyes, it was hard to say no. "Alright."

Hugging her, "Goodie!"


	4. Getting Past It All

Sean sat at home staring at the white wall with bags under his eyes, trying to forget about what he had seen. Telling Ellie how he feeling had made him feel a little better, but it hadn't stop the images from playing over and over in his head or the nightmare's he had when he tried to sleep. The sight of seeing to good friend bloodstained on the school floor. So really, he hadn't really slept since the whole ordeal He didn't even know if Craig was going to even make it. When had his whole life turned back into a big drama?

Ellie came through the front door to find him sitting on the couch, staring off into the middle of nowhere. She was very worried about him, and she knew maybe that she might not be the person who could help him. "Sean, maybe you need to get away from here for a while," she said sitting next to him.

"And where do you suppose I go," as he grew with anger.

"Maybe to your parent's house."

"Are you crazy? Those people don't care for me. They kicked me out when I was 13 yrs old, and made me move in with my brother."

"Maybe they've changed."

"You don't know them."

"Well the way things are going here, you will drive yourself crazy," she said as she put her hand over his, moving in closer to him.

Standing up, pointing his finger at her, "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"No, I just want to see you get better, stop these nightmares, and see a smile on your face again," she cried.

Seeing the anguish in her eyes, he grabbed her hands, "I'll do it for you."

"Thank you," giving him a kiss on his lips.

Toby and Ashley walked into The Dot, and went to talk to the manager. Coming up to the front till when they saw him.

"Hi, we were wondering if you have seen Gavin around lately," Ashley asked.

"No I haven't, he was supposed to be in for work last night but he never showed."

"When's the last time you saw him?"

"The day before that shooting at his school."

"Oh, thank you for your time," Toby politely said. He began to worry that they had been everywhere and still no one had seen him in over a week.

Hazel and Kendra went around the neighborhood, asking people along the way, but were having no luck either.

"Where could he be?" Kendra cried on Hazel's shoulder.

Putting her arms around her shoulder, "Don't worry Hun, we'll find him. I'm not losing another friend."

"I pray you're right."

Joey pushed Emma into Craig's room. Emma saw that he seemed to be gaining a bit of his colour back. After Joey had put her right beside him, he then left them alone.

Emma grabbed Craig's hand. "Craig you need to come back to us. We all miss you, especially Angie. She needs her big brother." Laughing a little, "She drew me a picture today, and said it was of you rescuing me. I thought it was real sweet of her," putting the picture beside his bedside.

Looking away from him, "To be truthful, I didn't even want to even come to see you. However, you know your sister she's very hard to say no to. It's my entire fault you're here. I can't stop thinking how if I didn't let you get in the way that I could have saved you and I would be in this place not you, just like how it's suppose to be."

Craig's eyes began to flutter, as if he was trying to open them.

"Craig wakes up please. If you do, I will promise you that I will make it up to you for all you've done for me."

"Em...Emma," he said as he slowly opened his eyes. At first, everything was a little blurry, but then he was able to focus on her face.

"Thank God...you woke up"

Looking around, a little confused, "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital; Rick shot you at school....I thought you were going to die."

"So did I," remembering hearing another shot down the hall after he fell to the ground, "Are you all right? I heard a shot."

"Yeah, he only got me in the leg, but it could have been worse."

"I'm glad you're alright. I getting shot was worth you being alive."

"Craig you shouldn't have tried to save me, look where you ended up."

"Emma I wasn't going to let him kill you. I wasn't going to let the love of my life die."

That was the second time she heard that, but this time it was actually from his mouth. She was astonished be those words.

"Did I just say that out loud?"

"Yeah," shaking her head. "What did you mean by it?"

Caressing her cheek with his hand, "Em you've been the best thing to happen to me in all my life. Of all the girls I've known you're the only one who has always stuck by me even when I was a big jerk."

"That's what friends do; our families have always been close. If we weren't friends, it would be kind of awkward having to hang out all the time."

"True, true," he laughed.

"I was talking to Joey, and he told me something you had said after his wedding."

"What was that?"

"That you said that I looked like an Angel."

"Well it's true. Your beauty just shines, and you can see that you're a nice person through that smile of yours."

His words made her blush, "That's so sweet."

"You bring the best out in me and whenever I'm around you I want to be a better person."

Marco and JT drove into the parking lot of the park. When they noticed a car JT recognized a red one to be exact.

"Marco," pointing at it, "Isn't that Spinner's car?"

Marco looked at it, "Yeah." He stopped his car immediately, and got out to double check to see f it really was. When he saw the damage to it, he knew for sure. "Why don't we go look around? He's probably around somewhere."

"Alright."

They both started walking down the path towards the river. They kept a big eye out for him. As they drew closer to the river, there was something that caught their eye. What was it? Their eyes widen as they looked at it.

Hazel, Ashley, Toby and Kendra had all met up at Kendra's house after hours of searching. They all wondered why Marco and JT hadn't showed up yet, so they phoned JT's cell, but got nothing. Did it mean bad news?


	5. A Shock!

Emma had fallen asleep by Craig's bedside with his hand still enclosed in hers. Her head was lying on the side of his bed with his other hand on her head. Craig faced her with a smile planted on his face while he slept, looking so peaceful for the first time since he was brought in.

Joey closely watched them through the window, and thought it was very sweet. He was glad to see that Emma was able to bring his son out of his coma, and that things looked like they were going to get better. He only hoped that they would both be able to get through this tragedy and find happiness.

Caitlyn came behind Joey, and put her arms around him. "Are you going to come home, and get some rest now?" in hope that she could tear him away from the hospital for at least a couple of hours.

Turning around to look at her, "Yeah, I could sure use a good night sleep. I feel like a zombie."

"So why don't we go get some take-out and then head home so that you can get have a good-night sleep."

"Alright, but I'm coming back in the morning. In case something changes."

"Joey he's going to be fine," she tried to assure him.

"Caitlyn, I can't let anything else happen to him. I could never live with myself knowing that I had been entrusted in his care and hadn't done my job."

"Joey, what happened wasn't your fault; you've been doing a great job with him. Now that he has awoken I think everything is going to be fine."

"I know you're right, but I still feel a little guilty about it."

"Joey come on we need to get you out of here, you need time away from this place," grabbing his hand.

They both left the ICU hand in hand, to leave Emma and Craig by themselves, sleeping.

Sean began to pack some of his stuff. He really didn't want to leave Ellie when she had no one else to count on at the moment. What if she had a bad day, and felt like she could handle everything and decided to cut again. He would feel a little responsible for not being there.

Sean walked back out into the living room, "Ellie I was thinking...I can't do this."

Looking at him, drawing closer to him, "You need to do this for you."

"But what about you Ellie? I can't leave you at a time like this, when both your parents aren't here." Grabbing her hands, "You need me!"

"Sean I'll be fine. I promise you that if I feel like cutting I will talk to someone about it, or phone you," trying to reassure him with her eyes.

Staring her in the eyes, "Promise!"

"I promise."

"Okay...I'll go."

JT and Marco got closer to the river to get a closer at what had caught their eye. All it looked like was a sweater, a sweater that Marco swore Spinner had one just like. So Marco got a branch from the ground and put it in the water, trying to bring in the sweater to get a better look at. He was having a hard time trying to pull it in.

"JT can you help me, this is a little tough, I think it's caught on something."

"Yeah." JT kneeled down by the edge, and started to help bring it up out of the water. As they brought it out of the water, that's when they got the shock of their life.

"Ahhh," they both screamed as their faces turned white.

"Is that what I think it is?" JT asked as he starred as he backed away from it, and felt like he couldn't breathe.

Stunned by it all, shaking his head, "I...I think so."

The body was all grey with cuts on his face, and skin was really disoriented from being in the water. Who knows how long it had been in there.

"Are we sure that this is Spinner?" JT asked.

"It doesn't totally look like him, but I know it's him. Look at the hair, and the other features."

"Poor Kendra, she's going to be devastated, and his family. When I thought nothing could get ant worse," looking down at the ground.

"Can you phone an ambulance?"

JT went to get his cell from his jacket pocket to find it not there. "I must have left it in the car, can I have the keys?"

"Yeah, here," throwing him the keys.

Ashley's phone began to ring, she looked at the call display to see it was JT, "Hello," she answered.

"Hey," Marco said with sadness in his voice.

Ashley noticed the tone of his voice so she left the room to get more privacy, "What's up Marco, why haven't we heard from you guys in a while?"

He paused, not answering her.

"Come on tell me," she begged.

"JT and I were walking in the park because we saw his car in the parking lot. Well we spotted his sweater in the water. As we brought it out of the water we noticed that it wasn't just his sweater, it was his body."

Ashley had to sit down, she was in shock, began to cry, "What? Are you sure?"

"Yeah we are. We found something in his car after the ambulance left. I think we need to all read it."

"Okay, we're at Kendra's house right now. Why don't you meet us here, and then you can tell everyone when you get here."

"Okay," he said trying to keep himself from crying.

Ashley was heading back to the living room after wiping away her tears, when she got another phone call.

"Who was that?" Hazel asked.

"Oh it was my mom, she was telling me how Craig was doing, she talked to Emma's mom today."

"How is he?"

"It doesn't look good, they say he is trying to hold on for someone, but they don't know how much longer they're going to be able to keep him stable."

"He's probably waiting for you, for you to tell him to fight," Toby said.

That brought a smile to her face to think that he still wanted her, "Maybe I'll go to see him in the morning."

Spike came to see her daughter, as she entered her room no one was there. And she began to panic, thinking that something went wrong they had to do surgery on her leg.

Spike walked up to the front desk of the wing. "Hi can you please tell me where Emma Nelson is?"

"Yes, she went to visit Craig Manning in ICU."

"Thank you," and started to walk away. This was a good sign, she hoped that she had stop blaming herself for what happened. She prayed that was the case, she couldn't watch her little girl talk about herself that way. When she knew what a great heart her daughter actually had.

Caitlyn walked in the living room after washing all the dishes, to find Joey had fallen asleep on the couch. She grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, and put it over him. She was happy to see that he was finally resting.

She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and whispered in his ear, "I love you."

Caitlyn then went upstairs to play with Angela up in her room so that they wouldn't disturb her dad while he slept so peacefully.

Marco knocked on the front door of the Mason resident. He just didn't know how he was going to break it to them all. It was killing him.

Kendra answered the door, "Where have you been, we've been waiting here for a couple of hours."

"Sorry, we got here as soon as possible," JT said.

Once they were in the living room, "I think we all need to talk."

"About what?" Hazel asked looking a little confused.

"We found Spinner's car at the park today," Marco said.

Kendra's eyes widened with excitement, "That means he's still in town!"

"But..." he could find the words to finish it as he looked into Kendra's hopeful eyes.

"We found his body in the river today," JT finished.

"It could be just someone that looks like him, right!" Hazel asked looking for some hope.

JT came closer to her, looking into her eyes, "I'm sorry..."

Kendra's face turned from a smile to a frown, shaking her head, "No...no...you're lying."

Marco went to comfort her, but she pushed him away, "Don't touch me you liar. I WANT YOU TWO OUT OF MY HOUSE...NOW!!!!" she yelled, pointing to the door.

"Kendra there's more," Marco said pleading for her to listen.

"What? How can there be more?" she cried. "You already said my brother is DEAD. How can there be even more you can lie to me about?" she looked at him with so much hate.

"We found this note in his car," handing it to her.

Kendra began to read it out loud to everyone.

_Dear everyone,_

_You must be wondering where I am sorry but I've killed myself. It seems like the best way for things to get better for you and me. I'm the reason that the shootings happened in the first place, and if you think other wise, you're wrong. Trust me I am!!! I got my best friend shot, my ex-girlfriend who I loved more then anything in the world, my girlfriend, and then another good-friend, what kind of guy dies that to their friends. _

_I know you say that killing myself was the selfish way out and hurts everyone else, but I'm in so much pain right now that I can't even begin to describe it. I wanted to talk to someone about this all, but everyone was already grieving over someone they're lost. I had nowhere to turn to; you all hate me right now for helping kill our friends. I just can't live with the burden that I caused so many people to die or even get hurt. I know once Craig finds out I caused him to be shot he would want to kill me himself, so I'm just helping out the process. No one really would want me to be around, just as no one ever wanted Rick around after what he did to Terry._

_I'm the one who got feather and paint dropped on Rick that day, you probably already figured that anyway. I wanted him to pay for almost killing Terry except this just made everything worse! The last thing Rick told me is that it was my fault that he shot all these people. He even went as far as shooting Manny, my girlfriend who didn't even bother him just to pay me back. I had to watch her been shot right in front of my eyes and see the pain in her eyes as the bullet hit her head. It was the worse thing to see, and as we speak now it's still going through my head. Rick told me that he wouldn't shoot me though because he wanted me to live with the fact that I was the cause of all this. It just too much for me to bare!_

_Tell Craig if he wakes up that that if I could take it all back, I would. I pray that he makes through this alive. I wouldn't one more person to die from this all._

_Tell Emma I'm sorry too._

_Kendra, my little sis. I wish we could have been closer you're a great girl. I know that I was always a pain, and real mean to you, but that didn't mean I hated you. I actually really loved you. I should have shown you it in a better way, I actually looked up to you, admire the girl you're becoming. Don't let anyone tear you down, stand up for yourself. Don't ever blame yourself for this; trust me there was nothing you could have done. My life just wasn't worth living anymore; I just wasn't worthy to be alive anymore. _

_My parents, I love you both. I know this has come to a shock to you too. You probably didn't even know how much of a bully I was at school. I wish I could have been a better son to you both. I haven't been a good son, and you're both better off without me there to screw up your family even more. I want to thank you though for all the things you had done for me, I know I never thank you guys enough for it._

_I will miss you all, but this was for the best. _

_Love Gavin_

Tears ran down all of their eyes by the time Kendra had finished reading the letter.

Hazel put her arm around Kendra, as did Ashley. They knew no words could be a comfort to her at this time, so they all stayed silent.

Breaking away from their embrace, "How can Gavin be so selfish? I hate HIM!" Kendra screamed taking a picture of him off a side table she threw it across the room.

The sound of the glass shattering caught everyone off guard. There was anguish on their face as they saw how much Kendra was hurting from this whole ordeal.

Toby began to draw closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder "Kendra, I think you need to calm down."

Whipping around to face him, "Calm down," she said with anger, "You want me to calm down, after all he's put my family through. Now he's brought in more pain into my family. I don't think so. I will never forgive him for doing this to us. NEVER!" With that, Kendra ran up to her room, slamming the door behind her and locking it.

"I can't believe he did this, to us, but especially to his family," Hazel said sitting down on the couch, putting her face in her hands.

"Me either, I mean any of our comments could have put him over the edge," Ashley stated.

"Yeah, but you read the letter, Rick told him he was the blame," Marco said.

"Yeah, but he was probably trying to make many people feel like it was their fault. Look at Emma, she thinks it's her fault that Craig got shot," JT said.

"Things are just so messed up," Ashley said. "What else is going to be taken out of our lives? What are we going to lose Craig too!" she said as she began to cry again.


	6. Getting Over Fears

The next day Sean showed up at his parent's house, not knowing why he was really going through it. It was because he wanted to make Ellie happy. It felt weird being here as if he was trespassing on private property. As he walked up and got to the trailer, he realized that he actually missed this place.

Sean slowly walked up the stairs, each step he debated on going any further. After standing there for like 5 minutes, he finally got the courage to knock on the door.

As he stood there waiting for someone to answer he stood there with eyes closed breathing in deep breaths.

His mom opened the door, and was amazed at who was at the front door. Her eyes widened, "Sean!"

"Yeah mom, it's me," he said as a tear ran down his cheek.

She embraced her son into her arms, "I've missed you so much. When I saw the news about the shooting I prayed that it wasn't you."

He just cried harder in her arms as she talked about it. The images were still haunting him.

"Sean what is it?" she asked, noticing the anguish on his face.

Sean came and sat on the couch, "Mom it was so awful."

"I know sweetie," looking at him with sympathy.

"NO YOU DON'T!" he yelled. "I saw blood trail as I walked down the hall," he cried. "I followed it to only find two of y friends bleeding, one really bad."

His mom came closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder.

"I was so scared that they would die and that I was going to be the next shot."

"It's going to be okay."

"I can't get the images out of my head; they haunt me in the night. Some nights I haven't been able to even sleep."

"You'll get through this. I'm so sorry we haven't been there for you when you've really needed us."

"Can I come home?" he asked with hope in his eyes.

"Yeah of course you can."

Emma woke up to find that she was back in her hospital room. Had yesterday been a dream, was Craig awake, or had that been her hopeful thinking?

She decided to buzz in a nurse to find out. She waited patiently for someone to come and see what she wanted.

The nurse came through the door, "Well good morning Emma."

"Morning," she smiled.

"What can I do for you this morning?"

"Well I wanted to make sure that this was just wasn't a dream."

"What wasn't?"

"That Craig Manning was really awake."

"Yes, we had to take you from his room last night because you fell asleep."

"Good, I'm glad it wasn't just a dream."

"Anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah could you see how he was doing?"

"Sure," she said as she began to leave the room.

A smile came upon Emma's face knowing what he had said to her was real. She began to realize that all along she had been in love with him. That's why she got him to help her find her father, and why she always stood by him through all of last years when he didn't haven many friends left.

Ashley slowly walked up to the window, to see Craig lying there with his eyes closed. She didn't' know he had already woken up. She put her hand on the glass, and whispered, "Craig you have to wake up; I still love you. I never stopped. I don't know what I would do if I were to lose you."

Craig was feeling a little sore this morning; his right shoulder was hurting him very badly. He slowly opened his eyes to see someone looking on him, at first, the person looked a little blurry, but once he focused his eyes, he realized it was Ashley.

Ashley noticed that his eyes were beginning to open she was filled with joy. She waved at him, and then looked around, no one was watching so she decided to go in there to see him. She had to tell him how she felt, to tell him that she was ready to take him back.

Ashley came and sat down beside him on the bed, "I'm so glad that you've finally woken up," putting her hand on top of his.

"So how is everyone?" wanting to know since him and Emma didn't talk about that last night.

She didn't know how to tell him, "Craig everything's gone wrong," she said as a tear rolled down he face.

"What do you mean?" worried what she might tell him.

"There was a big blood bath that day; you guys weren't the only one shot."

His face turned white, "Who else?"

"Jimmy, Paige, Manny, Alex and Jay."

His eyes widened, "Oh my!!! How's everyone taking it?"

"Not good, Spinner took it the worse."

"Why?"

"He blamed himself for it all. He even said that Rick told him it was his fault. He saw Manny been shot in the head right in front of him."

This was so much for him take in; he was just so blown away by it. He felt bad for Spinner who thought that way, but hated Rick for putting that in his head. "Poor guy."

"That's not all."

Confused by her statement, "How can there be anymore?"

"Spinner was missing for a couple of days, and then last night Marco and JT found his body," she cried. "He killed himself," she buried her head in his chest crying and he began to cry with her.

Kendra sat in Gavin's room on his bed staring at the wall. All of his stuff was everywhere; she had come in her last night and trashed it. She was just so angry.

There was a knock on the door, "Hunny are you going to come downstairs? Everyone's here," her mom said.

See they were having a little get together with everyone who knew Gavin, since it would be a couple of days before they would be able to have a funeral, and many people wanted to pay their respects now.

Kendra didn't answer her; there was no one she was in the mood to talk to any of the people downstairs who are pretending to have been friends with Gavin.

"Come on Kendra, you haven't left the room since last night."

"Just leave me alone please," she pleaded.

"Okay sweetie," she left and went back stairs.

Sean came into the kitchen where his mom was fixing some lunch. It was nice for once to actually having someone taking care of him instead of himself.

His mom noticed him come in, and look like he still had a lot on his mind. "Something's still bothering, what is it?"

"I still don't understand why you and dad sent me off," he said as he sat down at the table.

"Sean we wanted to get you away from the bad crew around here, the crew that got you in trouble."

"Mom it didn't feel that way. I felt like you didn't want me anymore," a tear fell from his cheek.

Sitting next to him, "We never wanted you to feel that way. And from seeing how you are doing right now, I can see that we made the right choice."

"But I've not always been this great; I've had so much anger towards you and dad. I didn't even want to come here in the first place."

"What changed you're mind?" a little sad that he didn't come willingly.

"My girlfriend Ellie thought that it would be good for me to get away from that all. She said that you and dad were probably what I needed to over this."

"She sounds like she really cares about you."

"Yeah she's great!" he smiled.

"You have to know that we love you, and whatever you're going through you can talk to both of us."

Sean didn't realize that he missed hearing that from his mom. It felt so good to hear it especially since he thought that they hated him all these years.

"You can stay as long as you want, you're always welcome here," getting up to finish making lunch.

"Thanks."

Looking back at him, "You're welcome." She was glad to have her son back even though it was probably temporary.

Sean looked out the window, and began to think of Ellie. He worried about what might happen. Was she going to be okay on her own witho0ut anyone?

He knew she said she would be fine, and would call if she started getting those thought, but it still didn't stop him from worrying. He loved her, and she was the first girl he actually thought he could see a real future with.

"Craig I'm glad that we're friends again, that all of last year is behind us," Ashley said as she sat on the bed facing him.

Looking at her with a smile, "So am I. I really missed your friendship."

"Well let's not keep going on about back then, let's live in the present."

"I agree. But once I finally get out of here I know things won't be the same as I left them."

"I want to help with that."

"How?" confused by what she meant by that.

"When I found out you had been shot my world was turned around. I kept on thinking what it would be like if I lost you. I realized something."

"And what's that?"

"That I still love you."

Before he could respond to this, she leaned in and kissed him. Moreover, just as she did this a nurse was coming in, but went straight out as soon as she saw this.

Emma was waiting anxiously for news on Craig; she wanted to make sure that he hadn't gone in shock again or something. She picked up a magazine that her mom and Snake at brought by, and began to read it. It was better then staring at the wall all day.

Not too soon after, the nurse came into her room.

A smile came upon her face, "So how's he doing?"

"Seems to me like he's pretty good, he was kissing some girl."

Her eyes grew with fire; he had lied to her just like every other girl. "Thank you," she politely said.

Craig had made a fool out of her, thinking that he could actually love him back. Tears swelled in her eyes as she thought of the nice things he said last night to her. It was probably what he said to all the girls to get them, she told herself.

She wanted to scream on the top of her lungs. She couldn't wait until she got out of here, get away from him. She saw the crutches by her bed, and grabbed them, she was going to grab the clothes her mom brought her, put them on and get out of here, maybe even get out of town.


	7. NO!

Craig pushed Ashley away from him after he realized that she was kissing him. "What are you doing?" Craig asked.

"I want to be with you," looking into his eyes, longing for him to look back into hers.

Craig saw the love in her eyes, the desire for him. How was he going to let her down? He didn't want to hurt her. "Ash, I can't do this. I don't love you; I don't think I ever really loved you like that."

"What?" stunned by his answer, but hurt at the same time.

"Ash there's only been one girl that I've actually loved…."

Ashley interrupts him, getting up, and backing away from him, "Don't tell me it was Manny," she said beginning to grow angry.

"Calm down, it's not her…It's Emma."

"How can you be in love with her, you've guys have never really been friends," confused by his confession.

"That's where you're wrong. We've known each other for years, and yes we may not talk all the time, but even when I was little I knew there was something special about her."

"Then why go for both Manny and I, leading us on."

"Because I didn't think she felt the same way, she seemed to be so hung up on Sean. I wanted to try to move on from her. Maybe find someone who made me feel the way I do when I'm with her, but it's never happened."

Ashley began to cry, "I can't believe that this is happening. Why is it that this always seems to happen to me when I like someone?"

"It's not you Ashley. One day you're going to find that great guy, and he's going to make you the happiest girl in the world."

Moving towards the door, "One day…." turning around to face him," I wanted that time to be now. I wanted it to be with you."

Craig could see the hurt that she carried in her eyes. It hurt him to know that it was because of him, but he was tired of lying about his true feelings. He wanted to shout to the whole world and tell everyone whom he loved. "I'm sorry," he said looking like he was going to cry.

Just before leaving, "Sorry…sorry doesn't fix my broken heart," she said with so much bitterness.

He did the right thing this time and he still got people mad at him. Life was never far for him. All he wanted to do now was to see Emma's sweet face, just seeing it made his day turn from bad to good.

Toby walked through the Mason residence through the crowd in the living room, looking for Kendra. He wanted to do something to make her feel better, to make the pain she was in go away. He still remembered her face when she realized that Marco was telling the truth. It was so hard for him to see her in pain, he stilled cared deeply for her.

It came to him that she probably was upstairs, so he climbed up the stairs to her bedroom. When he found that she wasn't, in there he decided to check Gavin's room. As he slowly opened the door, he noticed that she was leaning against his bed.

She heard a sound; she turned to notice Toby standing in front of her. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

Walking up to her, "I wanted to see you."

"Why…this is for Gavin," looking out the window.

"Because I'm your friend, not his and I can tell that you're hurting," sitting down next to her.

"If you were to ask me a few weeks ago that I would miss him this much when he was gone. I would have said that I couldn't wait to get rid of him, but now it seems like life without him isn't what I thought it would be like."

"Of course not, because even in we thought it would be great to be rid of our siblings, deep down we don't actually feel that way," putting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's lonely," leaning her head on the bed. "I miss our fighting, him talking about Paige none stop…I just miss him. I keep on wondering if there was something that I could have to prevented all of this," looking into her lap.

Lifting her chin with one of his fingers, "No, people make choices, some choices that aren't always right. This just happens to be a really horrible choice."

"Thanks, you're being such a great friend," looking into his eyes, she felt something drawing her closer to him. Before she knew it, her lips were touching his as he ran his finger through her hair.

Spike came to the hospital to check on her daughter, she knew that she had been in a little bit of depression the day before. She was hoping that she would be able to get through to her now that Craig was awake. Maybe Craig had already. She could only hope.

She walked through the door of Emma's room to find no one there. She went to check in the bathroom, but there was no one. She decided to try Craig's room, in hopes that Emma went there to talk.

"I can't believe I was such a fool," Emma said as she slowly went down her room stairs with crouches. It wasn't easy going down the stairs with crutches. All of a sudden, she dropped one of her crutches, causing her trip and fall down the stairs. She hit her head on the cement floor. "Aw!" she cried.

She went to get up, but couldn't. Her leg was throbbing again, and now so was her head, as she put her hand to the back of her head so discovered that she was bleeding. "Someone please help me," she cried.

She didn't even know why she was calling out no one was home. No one would know that she was down there. They all thought that she was at the hospital.

Spike ran into Craig's room to find that he was alone. He was having a hard time writing on the pad of paper because his shoulder was hurting, but he wanted to get it all down while he was being inspired.

"Craig," Spike called out.

Craig was startled at the sound of her voice; he turned to see who it was. "Oh hi Spike." Smiling at her, "What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Emma?" she said as she began to grow with anxiety.

His eyes begin to grow narrow as he looked closely at her, "NO, why?"

"Because she's not in her room," she began to cry.

"What?" his voice cracked, as began to get nervous.

"I don't know where she would have gone. Did you guys have a good talk last night?"

"Yeah, everything seemed great. I even told her I loved her."

"I don't understand then why she's done this," she said pacing back and forth.

Craig was trying to figure out the reason why she could skip out of the hospital. He was nervous about what could happen to her. She was on crutches; she could get even more hurt. Then it came to him. He got up from his bed.

Spike looked at him with a strange look, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going to look for Emma," he said as if it was nothing.

Going over to him, putting her arm out to stop him, "No you're not. You're going to hurt yourself further." She helped him back in bed.

""But I have to find her, I can't lose her."

Heading towards the door, "I'll find her. She couldn't have gotten too far in her condition."

Craig put on a fake smile, "Alright."

Once he knew she was gone, he got up from his bed, and grabbed the pajamas that Joey had brought for him, and got dressed in them. There was no way that he was going to sit in the hospital while he knew she was out there because of something she saw. If something happened to her, he would never forgive Ashley or himself.

Emma found her self in a lot of pain, and was having a hard time staying awake. She tried again to move, this time rolling over. It worked, now her face was facing the cold, hard cement. She put her hands down in front of her chest, trying to push her self up. Her first attempt she fell right back down, but the second time she was able to get herself into a sitting possession. She looked around for her crutches, she needed to get out of here before her family came home and stopped her. They wouldn't understand her reasons. She couldn't watch the guy she loves with another girl. It would be too painful; she already had to do that before.

Craig walked up the front door of Emma's house. He didn't even knock; he went straight for the doorknob and turned it, and was lucky to find that it was unlocked. He hoped this meant that she had been there. If he knew anything about Emma, she would be here grabbing her things before she took off. "I hope I haven't missed her."

He went towards her stairs to her room, and remembered the last time he had been in there was when he and Manny had made out on Emma's bed. He defiantly wasn't proud of that moment especially when Emma had found them. He could still see the look on Emma's face; it hurt him to see that it had been because of him.

Emma heard something; she only hoped that it was just a figment of her imagination. Now she was more determined then ever to get up off this floor. As she was about to get up she heard her door crack open, to notice whom was stand right at the top of the stairs.

Craig saw Emma at the bottom of the stairs, and whispered, "Thank you Lord."

"What are you doing here?" she snapped. "Shouldn't you be in the hospital?"

"I could say the same thing to you," he said as he walked down the last few steps.

"Well that is none of your concern," she said with coldness in her tone.

Kneeling right beside her, "Emma, why did you runaway from the hospital, was it because of something you saw?"

"As a matter of fact I didn't see it, my nurse told me about it. How could you do it? You told me that you thought I was an Angel, and that you loved me. But I guess you just know how to manipulate girls into getting what you want from them," she ranted.

"Will you listen to me?" he pleaded.

"Why should I?"

"Because I wanted to tell you what you don't know."

"Fine! You have 1 min to say whatever, and then I want you out of my house. And I don't want you to tell my parents you seen me."

"Emma you can't leave," grabbing a hold of her hands.

Rolling her eyes, "You're wasting your time."

"The of that story you don't know is if that nurse would have stayed around a few seconds longer she would have seen me push Ashley off of me."

"What?" now confused, but a joy seemed to come over her.

"She told me that she wanted me back but I told her that I didn't want her, that I already had someone great that I loved," looking deep into her eyes, hoping that she saw the sincerity in his eyes.

She could tell by looking into his eyes that he was being truthful. Putting her arms around him, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't trust you, and didn't find out the whole story before over reacting."

"It's a little understandable with my track record and all." As Craig backed away from the hug, he noticed that he had blood on his hand. He looked at Emma, "What happened? Why do you have blood on you?"

"I fell down the stairs, that's why you found me on the floor. We should thank your lucky stars though; otherwise I probably wouldn't have been here when you got here."

He grew with concern alarm, "We need to get you to the hospital to get that checked out." He pulled on the banister to pull himself up since he only had one free hand. The he went to help Emma up, and had a little bit of difficulty doing it with only one hand.

"We better get you back too before Joey freaks out," she laughed.


	8. As If It Seemed Like Things Couldn't Get...

Ellie sat in her living room looking at her a knife that was in front of her. She grabbed the elastic that was in her wrist and began snapping it against her wrist, causing red mart on it.

Things didn't seem to be any better with Sean gone, she had just found out about Gavin's death, and even though they were never friends, it was hard to see another one die. All this death was really getting to her. She felt like she had no one to turn to.

Oh, she craved the feeling of the knife going across her skin. A few hours of forgetting about the horrible life, she had now. She had no mother really, her father was gone with no sign of coming back anytime soon and Sean was with his family.

Ashley slammed her door shut to her bedroom with great force. She had a crazy look in her eyes. She saw something that reminded her of Craig, and freaked out, grabbing it.

She picked up her lighter, and lit it on fire, throwing it in the trash. As she watched it burn, "Craig I'm going to make you pay for breaking my heart again. You'll think twice about doing it again once I'm through."

You could see the fire blaze through her eyes, and you could see the change in her eyes. They were almost devil-like.

"Emma, I hope you're ready for a fight, because you're going to need all the help you can get," she laughed.

Sean sat on the stairs in front of his parent's trailer, worried. He got a distinct feeling that something wasn't right, but he didn't know what.

His mother saw this from inside, and could see that Sean look more upset then he did when he arrived. She decided to see what was up with him maybe she could help.

She sat right beside him, "Sean, what's got you so upset?"

"I feel something's not right back in Degrassi, but I don't know with whom," staring off into nowhere.

"What do mean?"

"Well I know a couple of people who could be in trouble. Like Craig who last time I heard was still in a coma, Emma, or Ellie."

"What about Ellie would worry you?" looking with great interest.

"She has a problem with cutting."

"What?" surprised by his answer.

"You see she has a problem with her mother being a drunk. She always had to take care of her, and with her dad in the army. She thought it was her only way to easy the pain. However, since her and I have been dating I've got her to stop. But now that I'm not there to support her, and with all that's happened in Degrassi, I'm worried what she will do without me there to help her." A tear fell from his face.

Putting her arm around him, "Things will be okay, but if you're so worried why don't you call, and see how things are going."

Getting up, and looking down at his mother, "I think I will."

Emma and Craig arrived back to the hospital in cab. Craig helped Emma out, and then handed her, her crutches. As soon as they walked through emergency doors, Craig went and got a wheelchair.

"Here we go my lady," he smiled as he wheeled the chair up to her.

Looking at him, giving him the puppy eyes, "Do I have to?"

Staring at her without blinking, being firm, "Yes!!!"

"Fine, but know that I'm not doing this willingly. I think I'm very capable of walking myself," she said, being a little cocky.

"My lady, you have a huge cut in the back of your head that hasn't stopped bleeding. I wouldn't want you to end up passing out."

Putting her hand on her chest, "Oh my hero!"

"Stop mocking me," he laughed. He grabbed his shoulder; laughing had caused a little pain.

Seeing this, "Now you look like you should be the one sitting in this chair, and resting."

"Emma…Craig," they heard hollering from behind them.

Craig turns around to see Joey, a little hesitant to answer, "Yeah."

Running up to them, "Where have you both been? We've been looking all over for you two."

"I went to find Emma," Craig responded.

Walking over to him, "You really shouldn't have in your condition."

"Joey, let's not argue about this. I really need to get Emma's head checked out."

His eyes widened, "What do you mean by that?"

Pointing, "If you can see, Emma's head is bleeding."

Joey grabbed Emma's wheelchair, and began to wheel her out to check her in again. Craig followed behind him. He knew that Joey would end up keeping a close eye on them, which left no time to talk to Emma alone.

Kendra sat there staring at her ceiling, with her fingers on her lips. She could still feel the imprint on her lips, as they tingled. What had he meant by the kiss? Did he want something to come out of it or was it just to cheer her up?

He had left right after the kiss without saying a word.

She decided to get up and call Liberty, and get advice. Maybe she would know what to do about it. "Should I feel this happy after losing Gavin?"

She picked up the phone, and dialed Liberty's number, "Hi, is Liberty there?"

"Speaking."

"Hi, this is Kendra."

"Oh Kendra, How are you doing?" with sympathy.

"A little tired of hearing that."

"Okay, so what can I do for you?"

"I need a little advice."

"What about? School?"

"No nothing like that, about boys."

"I'm not sure that I really qualify to answer anything in this subject since I haven't had any luck on my own."

"I don't care about that."

"Alright, question away."

"See earlier Toby came over to see how I was. We were talking, and then out of nowhere he kissed me, but the thing is he left right after it. So I don't know what it means, and I don't want to make a fool out of myself it didn't mean anything."

"Well how do you feel about it?"

"I really liked the kiss, I can still feel it. I think I really like Toby," she smiled.

"Then I think that you should go and tell him how you feel. I mean it can't hurt. If you don't do anything about it then you'll always think what may have come out of it."

"I guess you're right." Sighing, "Do you think it's wrong that I'm thinking about going after Toby so close after my brother's death?"

"Kendra people deal with death in different days, sometimes in the comfort of others."

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

Ellie grabbed the knife in front of her and put it on her wrist. The metal felt nice and cool against her arm. With the tip of it, she slid it across her wrist in a diagonal line.

The phone rang scaring her half to death, causing her to drop the knife. She quickly picked up the phone, with a shaky voice, "He…hello."

"Ellie, are you okay?" Sean asked.

Ellie's heart dropped at the sound of his voice. She didn't even answer his question. She just sat silent, watching the blood drip from her arm. She was scared.

"Come on, El, talk to me." He had a real bad feeling in his gut that she did something stupid.

"I can't tell you, you'll hate me," she cried. Cutting her arm, this time didn't seem to help as it had in the past. She felt more pain then she had ever experience.

"Did you start cutting?" he sad with anxiety.

"Yes, I just couldn't take it anymore. Sean, they found Gavin's body yesterday at the river. He killed himself," she cried holding on to her knees, getting blood all over them.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm coming home right away."

"But Sean what about what you need? I mean you have inner wounds you need to deal with."

"Ellie, I'm feeling a little better about what has happened with the shooting and my parents. I can't leave you alone when you seem to have no one now. I love you too much to have you hurt anymore."

"I love you too Sean."

Ashley sat in her room, planning what she was going to do the happy couple. The moment Emma gets out of the hospital she won't know what hit her.


	9. To the Rescue

"Ellie!" Sean screamed as he scurried through the front door of his and Ellie's apartment. He heard someone whimpering, so he followed the sound only to find her lying on the couch, holding onto her arm tightly with a cloth. Sean could see the blood seeping through the cloth on to her hand, dripping to her shirt. Sean's eyes enlarged at the sight of it, turning his face as white as a ghost.

Ellie had never bled like this before, she must have cut deeper in her arm then she had thought. The sight scared him a little.

Sean rushed to her side, ripping off his shirt to apply to her arm. As he applied pressure to her arm, he looked into her eyes looking for answers, looking like he was ready to break down and cry, "Ellie, why haven't you gone to the hospital if it's this bad?"

Tears strolled down her cheeks, leaning her head on Sean's shoulder, "I didn't want to be stuffed away in the loony bin. I mean they'll think I'm crazy because I did this to myself."

"That's not going to happen, I won't let it. Now we need to take you to the hospital," grabbing her good arm to help her up, but she was so weak from the loss of blood. Sean decided the only way was for him to pick her up and take her to the car.

Gazing into his tear filled eyes, with a shaky voice, "Sean, I want to thank you for being here for me when you're having your own problems at this time."

"Of course I would be here for you, I love you. I promise you that I will always be here for you. I won't leave you like other people have in the past," he said as he carried her out to the car.

"I love y…" she began to say before she passed out from the pain.

Sean shook her a little in his arms, but she was awaking. He grew with anxiety, he didn't know what had happen, was he losing her? He gently put her down on the ground and ran back into his place to use the phone. He ran fast, but to him it didn't seem quick enough. He could let anything happen to her; he needed her in his life. She seemed to make him a better person, the kind of person that he had always long to be.

Craig silently slipped into Emma's room after visiting hours. Glimpsing around, making sure that the nurses didn't see. He had already gotten in trouble for sneaking out of the hospital the last thing he wanted was to get in more trouble, especially with Joey.

He crept over, and sat in the chair next to her bed. She seemed to be sleeping she looked so peaceful. He caressed her cheek, at his simple touch her eyes fluttered opened. Smiling, "Did I awake you?"

She put her hand on top of his, as it still rested on her cheek. Shaking her head, "No, I was just resting."

"How are you feeling? Is your head still bothering you?"

"No. They gave me some medication for that. How did you escape, I thought Joey would be guarding it all night?"

"Joey went home, after he thought that I had fallen asleep. As if I would stay in there when I wanted to see you."

Looking at him with devilish eyes, "What a bad boy you are," grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers together.

Raising his left eyebrow, "Oh you think that, do you. Well then I guess I'll have to show how bad I really am."

Thinking that he was going to kiss her, she got ready for it, only to find that he started to tickle her. She began to laugh uncontrollably. Forgetting about Craig's side, she began to do it back, but instead of laughing, he cried out in pain.

"Ahh," he cried out, holding onto his side.

"Craig, I'm sorry I forgot," she pleaded, putting her arm on his shoulder.

"I know you didn't mean it. It was a little my fault though, I did start it," he said a little bent over from the pain.

Emma could see the pain in Craig's eyes, and began to fret, "Are you alright, do you need me to ring in a nurse?"

"No…I'll…be…alright," he said in between breaths.

She knew that he was lying, but she didn't want to upset him. Patting on the bed, "Why don't you lay beside me, it might be better for you if you're in pain."

"I'd like that, then I can be closer to you." He slowly propped himself onto the bed, moving as close as he could get to Emma. "So what do you want to do once you get out of here?"

"Well I'd like to go out a date with this guy I've had my eyes on."

Playing along, pretending he didn't know who she was talking about, "And what does this guy look like."

"Well he's tall; the most beautiful brown eyes; slightly brown curly hair, that I could play with like forever; and these plump lips that cry out to be kissed."

"So where did you meet him?" turning onto his side so he could look into her eyes.

"At a wedding when I was a little girl, he was there with his mother. The moment I laid eyes on him, he sucked me in."

"What's he like now?" wondering what she thought about him.

"Well he's a kind heart guy, who has his handful of problems but seems to have pulled through them. He was the only guy that was willing to help me find my father, not even my boyfriend at the time would go with me. He always looks out for me even though it would seem to others that we're not even friends."

"He seems like a perfect guy for you," he joked.

"Yeah, but I don't know if he notices me," she joked, "I mean he has a pick of all these other girls. I don't know if he would pick me."

Brushing the hair away from her eyes, leaning hid forehead against hers, "I would defiantly pick you over all of the others." Cupping her cheek, he leaned in grazing his lips over hers softly, lightly tugging on her bottom lip with his teeth.

Sean waited in the emergency room waiting for a doctor to come and tell him about Ellie's condition. The wait was killing him; he thought if he didn't find out someone soon he was going to scream.

He sat in the chair, leaning over with his hands in his hair as if he was going to pull out his hair.

Dr. Radovanovich came over towards him, Sean didn't notice though, so he laid hands on his shoulder to get his attention.

Sean jumped at the slight touch, when he noticed whom it was his heart sank. He stood right up, with some hope in his eyes. "H…how is she?"

He could see the eagerness in his face, "Ellie is stable, and we have stitched her arm back up. She looks like she will be fine with some rest, but I think you need to get her into some time of counseling, maybe a support group that she can talk to about this."

"But I can help her," he said in defense as he tried to convince himself.

"Yeah, but a support group knows what she's going through because they have similar problems."

He knew he was right, "Where can I get info of one of these groups?"

"Go to the desk, there are some different pamphlets there."

"What if I can't get her to go?"

"Well then I don't know if she will ever begin to get better."

"I'll try."

"That's all we can do."

"Am I able to see her yet?"

"Yes, she behind curtain four."

"Thanks," he smiled as he went to the desk before going to see Ellie.

"So I guess you found out of who I was talking about," Emma laughed.

"Of course who else would it be talking about, I mean I really am a great guy," he teased her.

"So where are you going to take me when we get out of here?" intertwining her hand with his.

"I was thinking you, me at my house, having a romantic dinner alone, with no one around to interrupt us."

"I liking where this is leading, tell me more," she smirked.

"Well I would light many candles everywhere so that we wouldn't need lights. This would be little different though, we would have a little picnic in the living room so that we can sit closely together,"

Emma began to dream about what it would look like, "You're defiantly good at this. I can't wait until then."

Raising a brow, in a devious voice, "Neither can I."

"So what are you looking forward to for when you get out?"

"Playing my guitar," trying to get a rile at out of her.

"So you mean that you can wait until we can be _alone_?"

"Oh you know I was kidding," he laughed.

"Of course I did. I mean because if you weren't then you know you would miss out on this," leaning in and sucking on his ear, then slowly she began to kiss his neck heading toward his lips. She opened his mouth with her tongue so that she could explore a little. Just as he began to moving his hand up and down her outer thigh she back away.

He was unable to talk at first, shaking his head, "I guess I get your point."

"I knew you saw it my way," she smiled, acting all innocent.

"I love you," putting his arm around her waist, making sure he didn't bring her too close so that she didn't hurt his side.

"I love you too."

As they lay there, Kelsie began to think how different things would be out in the real word, the world that they had been away from.

"Craig, how do you think it will be when we go back to school?"

"I don't know, I mean I haven't had might time to really think about it."

"I'm just scared that I'm going to see those images again, that they're going to haunt me and I won't be able to sleep again."

"If you do feel that way, then I'll be here to help you. We'll get over it together."


	10. Revenge Is Sweet

A couple of weeks had past, and now Craig and Emma had been finally being released from the hospital. They were so happy to be free from what they called jail. However, someone was lurking in the bushes as they arrived in front of the Simpson/Nelson residents.

"Emma, your time has come, and this time no one will be there to rescue you," Ashley snickered, as she watched them walk hand in hand up the stairs. "Craig you'll come back to me after there's no distraction, and we'll finally be together like we're meant to be."

Stopping at the front door, "Emma, be at my house around 7pm, all you have to do is bring yourself, I'll do the rest."

Giving him a devious look, getting little ideas in her head, "I can do that."

"I love you," pulling her close to him.

"Of course you do, now you must go so that I can make myself beautiful for you," she smiled.

"I can't say I could complain about that, but what about my kiss," wining, giving her those puppy eyes she couldn't resist.

"Alright," she smiled putting her hands on his cheeks, pulling him towards her plump lips.

Get away from him, Ashley wanted to yell, but then it would ruin everything. They would know she was there, and she just couldn't let that happen. No this plan had to be foolproof.

"Okay bye," walking down her stairs backwards.

"Bye," smiling as she bit down on her lip as she watched him leave. She had decided that tonight she would begin to live life to the fullest, and make it a night that Craig wouldn't forget.

Ashley knew that Emma's parents had just left with Jack for a while. This seemed like the best time to go and do the deed. She slowly crawled out of the bushes, looking around to make sure that no one else saw her.

Sean laid on the couch waiting for Ellie to come home. She seemed to being doing better since she began going to the support group. He could see the change in attitude; she seemed like a better Ellie.

The front door slammed shut, "Hello," Ellie hollered out.

"Hey, how was group today?"

"It was good, I feel like the need to cut is slowly starting to leave me. I'm learning other ways to deal with my problems."

That was a sign of relief to Sean, he couldn't bare to lose her, she was his life. "I'm glad to hear that," he smiled. "So what do you want to do tonight?"

"How about we go for dinner, and then a nice stroll in the park," she suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Pulling her into his arms, "Because as long as I'm worth you, nothing else matters to me." Leaning down, covering her mouth with his. They kissed as he twirled her hair around his finger.

Ashley slowly opened Emma's basement window, trying not to make a sound. It may ruin all her plans. She looked around the room making sure Emma wasn't anywhere around, before jumping off the windowsill on to the cold cement floor.

She looked around the room, when she noticed a picture hanging on the wall. It was then that one particular photo caught her eye. As she glazed over it, she grew with even more anger, reminding her again that someone else stole her man. The photo was of Craig and Emma at the Christmas party last year, even though they weren't together at that time you could see the love in their eyes at they looked at each other.

Just looking at it was making Ashley sick; she grabbed it off the wall, took a lighter out of her pocket and lit it on fire. Her eyes glazed over with delight as she watched the picture melt away.

Craig stood in the kitchen looking through the shelves for something that he could cook. All he could find was a bottle of marinara sauce and some penne noodles. He took them out of the cupboard and put them on the counter while he looked for pots to cook them in.

Caitlyn came in the kitchen, not sure, if Craig knew how to cook. She decided to lend a hand, "Do you need help?"

"Nah, I took a cooking class once, this can't be that bad. If I get into trouble I'll holler."

"Alright."

"So what do you guys have planned for tonight?" Craig asked, curious to know how long they would be gone.

"We're going out to dinner, and then a late movie."

"Sound like fun."

"So what do you have planned for Emma?"

"A picnic in the living room by the fire maybe a little music. Mainly I just want to have a night that she can have fun and forget what's happened to us these last few months."

"Yeah she needs that, and so do you," she smiled; she could see how much that Craig really cared for her just by his expressions when he talked about her. It reminder her of how Joey was at his age. "These last few weeks I really have seen how much you really love her."

"I do, I don't know what I would have done if she had died that day. I mean even though we didn't reveal our feelings for each other, she always held a special spot in my heart. I'm just glad that I went forth with tell her."

"Aw that's real sweet. Well I will let you get back to your cooking," she said as she began to walk away.

Emma took a bath, it felt so nice to sit in there and relax. She looked at the time on the clock next to her and realized that she didn't have much time until she had to leave.

She got up out of the bathtub, put on her slippers, and headed downstairs to the basement. It felt weird being back in her room, since she had been in there for a while. For some reason she began to get an eerie feeling just being in down here.

She ignored the feeling and went straight to her closet to find something to wear. She wanted to look hot, desirable tonight for Craig. She found one shirt and a skirt that wouldn't definitely keep Craig's eyes on her all night. She grabbed it, and turned around, startled by Ashley.

"How did you get in here? Emma asked

"By the window. You shouldn't keep it unlocked," she laughed. Looking at the outfit in Emma's hand, "Oh how cute is that," she said with such a fake sweet voice. "Too bad that Craig will not see you in it," she roared.

Emma couldn't figure out what she meant by that, and began to get a little frightened. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're never going to get there tonight," moving closer to her causing Emma to back up. And went to run towards the door, but Ashley grabbed onto her arm, "You're not going anywhere," she screamed.

Craig began to get an unsettling feeling in stomach as if something was wrong, but what could it be?

_Will Craig realize that something is wrong with Emma? And will Ashley end up killing Emma like she's planned?_


	11. Last Straw

Emma got out of Ashley's grip, and slowly started walking backwards towards the stairs. "Why don't you just leave him alone, he doesn't want you/" she sneered.

"No you just got his mind jumbled like Mann did. He isn't thinking straight," she tried to convince herself, believing that he still wanted her that Emma was just in the way.

"No you're the one that's not thinking straight. He's loved me for years, even his sister told me."

She grew angrier, "You're lying!"

Notices that she's too close to the stairs, "No you don't," Ashley darted for Emma, grabbing her from behind so that she couldn't move.

"Let me go, you psycho," she hollered.

Ashley didn't like her calling her that. She was going to pay even worse now. No one hurts Ashley and gets away with it.

"Ashley, you're not thinking rationally," Emma said to her.

"But I am, with you gone; Craig will concentrate on me, and forget about you."

Emma wanted to yell out no, but she realized that wouldn't help her stay alive, it would only make Ashley even more mad. She had to think smart, and try to stall her as long as she could.

Craig sat at his home, looking at the clock. Emma was almost a half an hour late. This wasn't like her she was usually very punctual. The bad feeling was still aching in his stomach.

He decided to call her house to see id she was just running late, but nobody seemed to answer the phone. Either she was on her way or something was terribly wrong.

The feeling was just eking at him there was something defiantly wrong. He had to go find her; he couldn't sit here any longer.


	12. I'm Coming!

"What if I said that I will stop seeing Craig, would you free, let me live?" Emma asked with so much hope.

"How do I know that you will?" Ashley asked knowing that this was probably a little scheme.

"Because I'll do it right in front of you. I'll make sure he knows that I was mistaken about my feelings."

"Maybe that could work," she said softly, bringing a smile to Emma's face. Out of nowhere, she yelled "But I don't think so. I'm not as dumb as you think I am. Just for that," she took the knife in her pocket and slashed her arm.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH," the pain was unbearable.

"Aw this is fun; it's much more enjoyable making you suffer than killing you right away."

"What's wrong with you," Emma cried.

Craig was running as fast as he could, he only wished that Emma lived closer to him. He felt in his gut that something was terribly wrong, he just couldn't figure out why. Rick was gone, who else could hurt her? He just hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

"Nothing my dear, but I can't say the same for you. Now enough is enough. It's time for the finale to this deadly game," pushing Emma to the ground hard, causing her to hit her head. Ashley got on her knees beside her, brought up the knife, ready to stab her.

"No……………." Craig screamed as he came flying down the stairs to see Ashley over Emma's body.

Ashley was startled, and forgot what she was about to do. Just enough time for Craig to get the knife away from her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Craig yelled

"I'm making her go away so that we can be together, just like it should be." She pleaded.

"I already told you that I didn't want you weeks ago."

Shaking her head, "No, you don't know what you're talking about; she's clouded your head."

"No I think something's clouded your head," he yelled.

"Well if I can't have you then no one will," she picked up a piece of broken glass and darted towards him, cutting his face. Before she was able to try for the neck, Emma who had awoken hit her over the head with a lamp.

Emma and Craig both watched as Ashley was carted away by the police. Their nightmare was finally over, now they could begin their new life together. However, nothing would ever be the same at Degrassi after the event that had unfolded there only months before.

The End


End file.
